(5) Oh My Geisha!
by Writer25
Summary: San-Li needs Sam's help on a job so they travel to Kyoto, Japan in the 1900s where San-Li poses as a geisha and Sam's mistress in order to retrieve something of great value to San-Li. Will they be able to keep things professional or will growing hormones and feelings take over? Takes place during Vaca in Pompeii. Rating may or may not change.
1. Chapter 1

Sam head was pounding and there was a dull ache at the base of his neck from sitting hunched over in the same position for so long, but he absolutely refused to move. Computer science, programming, and college level math books where stacked on one side of his desk; engineering, physics, and political science books were stacked on the other side. Right now he was pouring over a nuclear science book and was struggling to remember what he just read two sentences ago. It was well past midnight and his dinner sat untouched on the floor next to him. He rubbed his sore, aching eyes but kept pushing.

He heard his window quietly slide open and close again, but he didn't have to turn around to know who it was. They had been officially a couple for almost a year now, but bonded to each other for longer. As a matter of fact it had gotten to the point where he almost thought he could sense her presence. Side effect of the bond probably.

"Hey," He mumbled still reading. "You've been gone for a while. How was it?"

"Eh," San-Li grumbled. "Things didn't go like planned so I left."

Sam debated on whether or not he wanted to push the matter. San-Li sounded like she was on the precipice of a bad mood and right now it could go one way or the other. Pushing could possibly earn him a knife or dagger to the neck. Not that she would or could kill him, but it still freaked him out a little.

"Anyways I need another target to hit." She mumbled.

"Can it wait til tomorrow?" Sam turned back a page. "I'm kinda in the middle of something."

"Funny, I don't remember asking when you can help me." She said that menacing tone coming into her voice. "I need money for rent and I want you to give me a new target. Now."

Sam bit back his reply and tried to refocus on what he was reading. Patience, he had to have patience with San-Li. But he was going through a rough time and it was beginning to stress him out. Sam bit his lip, tried to ignore the cramps in his stomach, and kept reading. The cramps steadily grow more painful. A side effect of him not fulfilling his side of the bond.

"Look," Sam sighed. "I promise I'll help you in a minute okay? Just let me finish this chapter."

There was a sharp thunk and he looked up to see that San-Li had stuck on of her daggers into the desk right in front of him.

"Hey!" Sam spun around. "Be careful with that thing! This is a library book!"

"Did you forget our bond?" San-Li asked angrily holding another dagger up to his face. "Just because I can't kill you doesn't mean I can't cut that pretty face of yours."

They glared at each other for a long moment and Sam could feel his patience starting to ebb. It downright annoyed and frustrated him when she did crap like this. This was the reason why no one, but Fred could trust her in the first place. And even he claimed that just keeping an eye out on her. But Sam also knew that there wasn't much else to do but to give in to her tantrum.

"Okay! Okay!" Sam threw his hands up in defeat. "I'll find you a target."

With an aggravated sigh he jumped up and went to his book shelf for one of his history books. He rifled until he found the page he was looking for, wrote down the information, and handed it to her. He instantly felt the cramps disappear and he went back to his desk to continue reading.

He could feel her eyes on the back of his head but he didn't turn around. He felt bad, he shouldn't have snapped on her like that. He was her boyfriend after all and it surprisingly easy to have her as a girlfriend. The watched things together that he could never watch with anyone else like House of Cards or history documentaries. He even liked watching cheesy B movies with her because she liked to make fun of them with him instead of shushing him like Fred and Joe did. As long as she didn't slip into her seductress mode everything was easy between them.

The only problem was that she sometimes switched back and forth between being San-Li his girlfriend and San-Li the psycho time pirate whom he had accidentally bonded with. She still stood there for a long moment practically buzzing with agitation before she finally seemed to calm down.

She sighed and leaned on the desk next to him. "Okay what's with you?"

Sam sighed. "Studying for an entrance exam."

"For..."

"M.I.T."

San-Li gave a low whistle. "Impressive. But aren't you only in your junior year?"

"Yeah, but I need to start getting prepared now." Sam rubbed his temples. "I failed it last year and I'll never pass at this rate."

"Well there's no way you'll retain any of that information if you're this stressed." San-Li said. "And you aren't useful to me like this. So let me help you before you have an aneurysm."

Before Sam could ask what she meant San-Li grabbed his wrist and made his stand up. When she started to pull him to the bed he panicked.

"W-what are you doing!?" Sam pulled himself out of her grip.

"Relax," she rolled her eyes and grabbed him again. "I'm not going to do anything bad to you."

She made him sit on the bed and he sat on the very edge, ready to spring back up at a moment's notice. There was no point trying to fight her physically, but that didn't mean he couldn't run if he needed to. He tensed when he felt her get on the bed behind him and put her hands on his shoulders. He jumped up again and looked at her.

"Well San-Li," he said smiling nervously. "It was nice of you to stop by, but I really, really need to get back to reading now, but I promise I'll help you tomorrow."

"Sam." San-Li folded her arms and gave him a look. "I was just going to give you a massage. Calm down and get over here."

Sam bit his lip and tried to think a way out of this situation. Nerd or not he was still a guy and San-Li was... not ugly. Definitely not ugly. Scratch that, she was totally hot; a fact that wasn't lost on him. But he couldn't let himself think like that. He prided himself on thinking before acting and being logical. And that logic told him that being on the bed with San-Li when no one else was around was definitely a bad idea. Even if it was just a massage. They were a couple and he cared about her a lot but the two rarely did anything more than light kisses on the cheek.

San-Li narrowed her eyes. "Do you not like me or something?"

"What?" Sam looked at her like she was insane. "San-Li, you're my girlfriend. Why would you ask me something like that?"

"Because you don't treat me like your girlfriend." San-Li said in exasperation. "You just treat me like a friend. Even Joe and Fred don't actually believe we're dating."

Sam felt his shoulders slump a little. "They don't?"

"No," She scoffed. "They think I'm just teasing you. Honestly sometimes I think I just imagined everything."

Sam frowned. He didn't know what hurt more. The fact that San-Li didn't feel like they were in a real relationship or the fact that his two best friends didn't know that they were in a relationship.

"Alright," he sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

San-Li only huffed and wouldn't look at him so he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Okay," He mumbled. "Massage me."

"Is that how you ask?" San-Li pouted. "I'm not your personal masseuse, you know. You're gonna have to be a little nicer to me if you want a massage."

Sam felt the corner of his mouth twitch up in a smile at her stubborn, pouting tone.

"Okay," he said again. "San-Li, I'm really stressed out from studying. Would you mind giving me a massage please?"

"Hmph, that's more like it." She said scooting closer to him again.

Sam knew he made a mistake when the first sigh escape his mouth.

_ My goodness her hands feel amazing. _He thought feeling breathless.

Sam could feel all of the tension and soreness leaving his body and it was incredible. He never had a girl touch him like this and it was throwing his mind and his body into over drive. An inner voice was screaming for him to get off the bed right now before they did or said anything that they might regret or make things awkward between them, but he was really, really enjoying this massage.

"Sooo," Sam said trying to disguise another moan. "Where did you learn how to give a massage?"

"My grandmother." San-Li said. "She was kinda like the family doctor and physical therapist. She taught me a lot about doctor stuff and yada yada."

"So how come you didn't you do that instead of becoming a time thief?"

San-Li's hands stilled for a moment before she continued. Sam mentally kicked himself. Per their albeit forced arrangement, Sam had agreed never to ask about her past and he was pretty sure that asking the reason for her becoming a time thief broke that agreement.

"Why is it so important that you get accepted to M.I.T.?" San-Li asked after a while. "Smart guy like you could probably get into any college in the country. What are you stressing about?"

Sam shrugged feeling strangely happy that she called him smart . "I really want to become an inventor someday and it's not exactly a job you apply at a company for."

"What about an engineering job? Isn't that similar enough?"

"I wouldn't mind it, but that isn't what I really want to do." Sam bit back another moan. "I don't want to just work for some random company. I want to be able to dream up something and make it happen. Better the world with my inventions and I think M.I.T will help me do that."

"How noble." San-Li remarked dryly.

Sam sighed and frowned. He hated it when she said stuff like that. When she was sardonic and cynical like that. He much preferred her when she was relaxed, excited, or better yet content. Like when she played the piano and her small fingers flew impossibly fast over the keys. Or when she gave that slow, gentle smile of hers when she thought no one was around to hear her and Fina's conversations. He shook his head and decided to change subject, but she beat him to it.

"Favorite period you time traveled to." She commanded rather than asked.

"Um, that would be... 17th century Japan."

"Edo period." San-Li nodded. "Nice."

Sam smiled. "Yeah. My great grand daughter and I trained as samurai and rescued my friends from an evil general."

"Oo," San-Li breathed next to his ear making him shiver. "Sam samurai sounds kinda sexy."

Sam jumped up from the bed his cheeks burning and saw that she was laughing. Despite himself Sam found himself smiling as well.

"That's not funny." he said trying not to laugh.

San-Li smirked at him and winked. "Yeah you're probably right. I doubt that you're even really attracted to me that way."

"Of course I am." The words came out before he could stop them.

"No you aren't." San-Li scoffed. "You hardly even kiss me."

"Yes I do." Sam protested. "I totally kiss you...sometimes."

"I'm not talking about on the cheek, Sammy," San-Li sighed. "You know exactly what I mean."

She was now laying on his bed with her eyes closed making Sam frown. He hoped that she wasn't planning on sleeping over. He may have been planning on pulling an all nighter, but he still planned on eventually going to bed. He sat down next to her making sure to leave plenty of space between them.

"I just want us to be cautious," Sam said seriously. "We're both teenagers full of hormones and I know how passionate you can be sometimes. I just want us to be smart and take things slowly."

"Yeah at a crawl." she muttered.

"What do you want from me, San-Li?" Sam sighed. "To sweep you off your feet? To be as crazy and passionate as you are? I'm not good at that alright?"

San-Li sat up suddenly and stopped a mere centimeter or so away from his face. She stared at him intently for a moment and he tensed up.

"Kiss me." Her breath fanned across his lips.

"Wha-"

"Don't think, don't speak. Just kiss me." She whispered. "Or if you want, we could be just friends and I'll never try to seduce you again. And they'll be no hard feelings between us."

He shook his head slowly and kissed her softly, barely brushing his lips against hers. She started to pull away, but he leaned forward more and caught her lips in a stronger kiss. San-Li let out the tiniest moan and he was undone. His hand cupped her cheek he kissed her deeper bringing out another tiny moan from her. San-Li wound her arms around his neck and they continued kissing desperately. Almost a full year of being a couple emotionally but not physically had taken its toll on him and he couldn't stop even if he wanted to. Even though his brain was literally screaming for him to stop he couldn't help but keep kissing her and drawing her closer to him.

He froze when she gently pushed against his chest. Sam jumped away from her, his face literally burning with shame and embarrassment.

"San-Li, I am so so sorry." He pleaded with his hands in the air. "I swear I don't know what happened. I didn't mean to take advantage of you I swear."

San-Li laughed and stood up. "Oh trust me I don't mind."

"You sure?" Sam felt a little relieved. "You aren't going to dump me for being a pig are you?"

"You aren't a pig." She giggled. "You were just kissing your smoking hot girlfriend and got a little carried away."

"I'm sorry." He repeated bashfully.

San-Li vanished from the bed and reappeared directly in front of him.

"Don't be sorry," She cooed. "I like you're passionate side."

Sam blushed and looked away. Only she could make him feel this way; make his heart beat like crazy and feel like he was floating on air. She gave him a soft smile and pecked him on the lips before taking a step back.

"Soooo," She said rocking back and forth on her heels. "Back to business. I was actually wondering if you could come with me on a job. I could, um...kinda need your help."

Sam blinked at the sudden change in topic. His heart was still racing from their kissing and he wondered if it was from excitement at the thought of warping with her as well. He know he shouldn't be excited at it though. He had to constantly remind himself that she was a thief and that stealing was wrong. He should try and convince her to stop shouldn't he? Give up time thieving and go to school him maybe? She was smart almost as smart as he was. It could work.

"Please?" San-Li batted her eyes and threaded her fingers through his. "Pretty please?"

Sam melted on the spot and grinned like crazy. "Okay."

"Great!" San-Li pecked him on the lips. "Meet me at my place around five alright?"

Sam nodded and she vanished in a ripple of dark air.


	2. Chapter 2

One year of dating and Sam had never really been inside of San-Li's apartment before. He picked her up and dropped her off there whenever they went out, but all he had to do was knock and she'd come out, quickly closing the door behind her. If they didn't go to the movies they went to his house for popcorn and Netflix. Honestly he was kinda afraid of what he'd find inside. Her stolen goods? Weapons? He had no idea. So when he opened the door he was surprised to find a simple, modern, and kinda messy apartment. The kitchen had take out boxes and empty ramen noodle packs everywhere, but all the dishes were clean. The living room had a couch and a low table covered with a towel and various mechanical parts. But there was also a large flat screen t.v and a game/dvd system.

"San-Li?" Sam called out closing the door behind him. "I'm here."

"Shoes please!" She called out from somewhere in the apartment.

Sam looked down and saw that there was a small wooden area were two pairs of shoes were thrown haphazardly. Sam knelt down and rearranged them neatly with his.

"Did you bring your over night bag?" San-Li called out.

"Yes."

San-Li came out of one of the rooms, presumably the bathroom, wearing a plain t-shirt and jogging pants and rubbing a towel through her hair. Sam set down his bag with a smile and kissed her gently on the lips.

"Well, I'm glad our little talk last night worked." She chuckled.

"Um...honestly it wasn't just your ultimatum," He admitted bashfully. "Believe it or not I do find you pretty attractive. I'm a smart, shy guy not a robot."

"And I'm surprised you didn't try to fight me on the overnight bag thing." She said tying her hair in a loose knot. "I'd thought you'd freak about us staying in a different time period for a few days."

"I'd done it before." Sam shrugged. "Though not by choice and it was never more than a day or two."

"What about a week?" San-Li asked walking to her bedroom and gesturing for him to follow. "You alright with working with me for a week?"

Sam felt the bond marking on his wrist start to throb and shrugged. "I don't think I have much of a choice."

He hesitated going into her bedroom and could feel his face starting to heat up, he had never been in a girl's room before. He glanced around and saw that her room was completely messy with clothes all over the floor, magazines and books strewn all over her unmade bed, and a changing screen and a make up stand standing in the corner. Several kimono also hung on the wall.

"Japan?" Sam asked.

"Kyoto, 19...46." San-Li took down one of the kimono and disappeared behind the changing screen.

Sam turned away respectfully while she changed. He heard the rustle of fabric and her humming under her breath. She came out again wearing a pale short sleeved robe that just came past her knees. She sat down on a cushion in front of the mirror and looked over at Sam.

"You can sit down if you want." She said. "This might take a minute."

Sam grabbed one of the bean bag chairs and sat down a little behind her. "What are you doing?"

"Doing my hair and makeup." She winked at him in the mirror.

San-Li started by shaking her hair out of its messy knot and brushed it until all of the tangles were gone. She then took a small bundle of cloth and wrapped most of her hair around it, creating a large bun, securing it with pins and a strip of cloth. The last section of her hair was her heavy left bang. This she rolled in a large roller. Sam started coughing when she sprayed her hair all over with a sticky hair spray.

San-Li then took off her eye patch. Sam leaned forward eagerly but she tilted her head in such a way that he couldn't see anything. She then pulled out a contact lense case and a small jar of coverup. As soon as she finished San-Li then unrolled her left bang, swept the end back behind her her, and pinned it down. The result was that her bang was now a large wave that swept elegantly over her left eye. She shot him an amused look when she noticed his disappointment.

"I don't know why you want to see my eye so badly." She laughed.

"Because you won't let me." Sam mumbled with a small smile.

"There's a lot I won't let you see." She winked.

San-Li then grabbed a large brush, dipped it into a chalky, white paste, and started painting her face and neck until they were completely covered.

"Geisha make-up?" Sam asked as she put on touches of pink eye shadow.

"Uh-huh," San-Li lit a stick of wood, blew it out and started drawing on eyebrows.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Sam asked. "Geisha were sort of mistresses in training."

"I know. That's why I wanted you to come with me."

"Me?" Sam watched as she painted her lips. "What can I do?"

San-Li went over to the changing screen and finished putting on the rest of the kimono. The outer robe was red with swirling orange and pink designs while the obi (a wide cloth belt covering her entire middle) was yellow with orange flowers.

She started putting ornaments in her hair and looked at him in the mirror. "I know I've just convinced you to treat me like your actual girlfriend-"

Sam cringed. "Please don't say that."

"-but now I kinda need you to treat me like your mistress."

"What?" Sam blushed bright red and stared at her.

"I need you to pose as a young American businessman so I can pose as your mistress." She repeated matter of factly.

"I-I can't do that!" Sam stammered blushing.

"Why not?" San-Li pouted and slowly walked up to him. "Didn't you say you found me attractive?"

Sam took a shaky breath. San-Li looked breathlessly beautiful, like a perfect Japanese doll come to life.

"That's the problem." Sam mumbled. "I'm guessing that we aren't going to have separate rooms?"

"Nope." San-Li grinned. "But trust me, this job is important to me so I'll behave myself."

"Promise?"

"Nope."

Sam had no choice but give in anyway and changed into the business suit at her demand. She then finished packing her suitcase and used her watch to warp them through time and space.


	3. Chapter 3

They were sitting in a car driving towards a tea house. Of course being a 1946 car it jerked and bumped along the road making Sam's glasses bounce on his face and his stomach turn. Still he had to admit that it was really interesting to be riding in a car this old instead of just looking at one in a museum. There were also a few other reasons why his stomach was turning.

"What am I supposed to do again?" Sam asked nervously.

"Make small talk and don't blow my cover." San-Li said shortly.

"San-Li, come on," Sam sighed with a mixture of irritation and exasperation. "I'm doing you a favor remember?"

"Favor?" San-Li scoffed and looked at him. "You don't have a choice remember?"

Sam opened his mouth to say something but then happened to look down and saw that her fist was clenched and shaking. He hesitated a moment before laying his hand on top of hers and giving it a gentle squeeze. San-Li looked surprised but managed a small smile.

"This is a just a small vacation with beautiful women for these business men" She said slightly less irritable. " World War II has just ended so they want to make a good impression on the Americans so they'll speak enough English for you to make conversation. There will also be only two other Americans there; a general and his lieutenant. Just be your usual smart self and you'll be fine. Just don't talk about anything historical after 1945."

"Got it." Sam nodded feeling a little better. "And what will you do?''

"Same as I usually do. Make small talk. Flirt." San-Li flashed him a seductive smirk. "Act like I'm totally into you."

Sam blushed and looked away. His fingers laced through hers and he smiled softly.

"You sorta do that already." He said with a small nervous chuckle.

San-Li laughed and brushed her lips against his ear. "I'm not acting about that, Sammy."

Sam had to actively suppress the shiver that ran down his spine. Her laugh could be incredibly sexy sometimes when she wanted it to be. Sam blinked in surprise at the fact that that thought even entered his mind. Stupid hormones.

They arrived at their destination, a tea house called the Ichiriki Chaya with a plain dark wooden entrance. The driver stopped, pulled over to the curb and opened the door for them. They got out but left their bags inside, the driver was supposed to take their luggage to a private plane for later. They went inside the tea house, greeted the mistress, and were shown by a maid to a room where a party was being held.

"This place is incredible," Sam whispered in awe as they walked down the hall. "This is where the story of the forty-seven ronin was supposed to take place. I'm not sure how true it is, but Japanese scholars consider it a national historical legend."

San-Li smiled up at him and chuckled. "I love the fact that you love history so much."

They came to a stop in front of a paper sliding door and she took a minute to straighten his jacket and tie.

"One more thing I forgot to mention," San-Li added. "Unlike The Book my watch doesn't come with an auto translator. Most of the men will speak English for your sake, but other than that I'll have to translate for you."

Sam swallowed nervously and knelt down next to San-Li as she rolled open the door. They went inside, rolled the door closed behind them, and bowed again.

"_Kon'nichiwa Kōrin, Komaki, misuki,_" She said bowing to the three other geisha in the room. "_To harō Bandō, Fukuhara,_ general Thompson, and lieutenant Jeffrey." She then bowed to the men in the room.

San-Li then gestured for Sam to follow her to two spaces at the low table.

"_Koreha _Kikin, Samuel, _Watashi no danna_." She said gesturing towards Sam.

"_Haikei _Kikin-san." One of the Japanese men lifted his cup and smiled at him. The other one half lifted his cup, but his smile was more like a sneer.

"Kikin, huh?" A large burly man looked him over with a large grin on his face. "Good to see another American here son. Tell me, did your daddy buy you that pretty Japanese doll next to you?"

Before Sam could stutter a reply San-Li giggled and touched his hand.

"Samuel-san took over his father's business a few months ago and is now vice president." She said. "He became my danna last month."

One of the other geisha, Korin, began telling a story about a friend of hers and her danna. Sam vaguely wondered what the term danna meant while San-Li poured him tea. He guessed that it had something to do with San-Li being his mistress. Or rather, he remembered a with a small blush, _pretending_ to be his mistress. Korin must have finished her story because every began laughing. Sam realized belatedly that he hadn't been listening. He laughed with the rest of them and hoped that he didn't sound too awkward. San-Li flashed him a weird look so he was pretty sure that he failed in that department.

"So Bando," The burly man, Sam assumed was the general by his uniform, turned to one of the Japanese men."Now that all of the guests are here let's say we get this little island trip started shall we?"

"Yes," Bando nodded. "Allow me to call me driver and we shall head to the plane."

He gestured for one of the geisha to call for a maid and when she left the room San-Li turned to Bando with a smile.

"By the way Bando," San-Li smirked and hit him playfully on the arm. "You kept forgetting to tell me where we're going."

"Oh, Setsuko," Bando laughed patting her hand. "Perhaps if you didn't always leave the party so early, you would have been there when discussed our plans in detail."

"But Bando-san," San-Li pouted, "This is my first island trip and I'm just so excited."

Sam had to keep himself from laughing. She was very close to that cute tone she used when she wanted something out of him.

Bando chuckled. "Very well. In honor of General Thompson and Lieutenant Jeffery and our countries' new found friendship we are going to Hakken Island."

"Hakken Isand?" San-Li gasped. "Isn't that where stories say the _Akiraka Ni Suru Fan_ is said to be?"

Bando laughed and was about to answer her when the maid returned and told them that the car was waiting for them. Everyone stood up excitedly to leave and Sam saw a brief look of irritation cross San-Li's eyes. He reached over to touch her hand and she relaxed a little.

Bando's driver took them to a private plane and Sam swallowed nervously. He had trouble keeping his lunch during a short drive in a 1946 car, he didn't want to imagine what a ride in a 1946 air plane would be like. This time it was San-Li who calmed him down.

"Let's sit in the back," She said as they boarded. "That way we'll be close to the toilet if you need to hurl. And I'll take the window seat if you don't want to see out."

"Thanks." Sam smiled gratefully.

They took their seats and the sure enough as the plane's engines began to run the whole aircraft vibrated and one of the geisha let out a small shriek of terror. Once the plane took off though everything became still and they glided smoothly through the air. It was nowhere near as bad as Sam thought it would be. He jumped a little in surprise when he felt San-Li thread her arm though his and leaned against him. He glanced down at her and she smiled softly back at him with a touch of sleepiness in her eyes. Sam felt something jump in his chest at her smile that he couldn't fully contribute to hormones this time.

"I know this is supposed to be a job for you," Sam said quietly. "But maybe this could also sorta be a romantic vacation for us? To make up for me not being a very great boyfriend to you in the past year?"

San-Li tensed a little and something flashed in her eyes that he couldn't quite read. She relaxed again though and closed her eyes.

"This isn't just an ordinary job, Sam. I'm looking for something very important." She said quietly.

"Oh." Sam said trying not to feel too disappointed. "Well, what is it that you're looking for? Maybe I can he-."

San-Li interrupted him by gently placing a finger on his lips. Sam had to actively restrain himself from kissing her finger tip because he was pretty sure that the gesture wasn't meant to be romantic. Sure enough this time when San-Li spoke her voice was hard and on the verge of angry.

"Please Sam," San-Li said tightly. "I'm going to need you to do exactly as I ask. Precisely. Which means playing the part of my danna and not blowing my cover."

Sam nodded mutely and San-Li relaxed and begun to caress his cheek and jaw lovingly.

"Thank you." She whispered.

There was so much more Sam wanted to ask her but he decided it was probably best to let her sleep for now. Sam let loose a yawn and realized that he was pretty tired as well. There would be plenty of time for questions later, but for right now a quick nap seemed great.

**A/N- Sorry this was taking so long to update but I've been having a bit of writer's block in terms of how to get through certain plot points.**


	4. Chapter 4

They arrived at the island a few hours later just as the sun was setting, casting the woods and mountains in an orange glow. Another car drove them to the inn were they would be staying. To Sam, it was the most amazing looking place he had ever seen. The inn was nestled among the trees and was so low key and cozy that it was almost invisible if it wasn't for the windows and colorful hanging paper lanterns.

"_Arigatō."_ San-Li bowed to the maid who showed them to their room.

The maid bowed back and rolled the door shut behind her as she left. Sam couldn't help but notice the bed situation; two futons pushed together with one blanket over top, a pillow, and a narrow block of wood with padding at the top. He looked up and saw that San-Li was staring at him.

"What?" He asked.

"We don't have to sleep close to each other if it makes you uncomfortable." She said with a small smile.

Sam shrugged and looked away. "I don't mind if you don't mind."

"Trust me, I definitely do not mind sleeping close to you." She flashed him a smirk and looked him and down slowly. "Take off your clothes."

"What!?"

San-Li chuckled and gestured to their luggage in the corner. "This is an informal business retreat. Change into something less formal for dinner."

"Oh." Sam relaxed a little. "Right."

"And I am going to do the same." San-Li went over to her trunk and pulled out a bundle of fabric. "Do me a favor and tell the maid to bring a basin of water please."

"How do I do that?" Sam asked as she disappeared into the bathroom.

"_Watashi wa, mizu no ryūiki o onegai motsu koto ga dekimasu."_

Sam looked out into the hallway and waved over a young woman who was wearing a simple blue and white robe.

"Um,_Watashi wa_," Sam stumbled over his words. "_mizu no ryūiki o_..._onegai_, um... _motsu koto_ _ga_..._ga_... um, _dekimasu_?"

The maid looked at him in confusion. "Are you asking for a basin of water sir or squid oil?"

"Water please." Sam sighed in relief. "Thanks. I mean, _Arigatō._ "

The maid bowed and left and Sam went to change his clothes. He thought about warning San-Li not to come out until he was done, but he remembered with a slight flush that San-Li had seen him and Fred change clothes on the Titanic. As he finished changing there was a light tapping on the door and he opened it to see a small basin of water as well as a small rag laying right outside the room. He took it inside and tapped on the bathroom door.

"Thanks, Sammy." San-Li took the basin and closed the bathroom door again.

She came out a few minutes later wearing a lighter kimono in pastel colors and with all of the make up washed off of her face. She went over to the make up stand in the corner and applied lipstick, eye liner, and blush. She looked over at Sam, who had been staring at her the whole time and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" She asked a bit defensively. "It's too hot for all that white make up."

"I like looking at you." Sam shook his head and blushed. "I mean, I like looking at you transform yourself. Putting on make up and stuff. Not looking at you in a creepy way."

San-Li giggled and walked over to stand directly in front of him. Sam noticed with a little pride that he has grown almost a full head taller than her. She placed her hands on either side of his face and tilted his head down until their foreheads were touching.

"I like you." She said quietly.

"I like you, too." Sam whispered and closed his eyes.

"But maybe I like us too much for your own good."

Sam opened his eyes and looked at her in confusion. She stared back at him her expression unreadable. She started to move away from him but he placed his hands on her hips to hold her in place.

"What do you mean by that?" He asked urgently. "Are you breaking up with me?"

San-Li shook her head and pressed her lips against his desperately. He kissed her back and moved one hand up to cradle her cheek. She pulled away slowly and ran a hand down his chest. Sam took a shuddering breath but didn't move away.

"You shouldn't let me kiss you like that," San-Li said in a low whisper. "Something bad could happen."

"You started it." He mumbled leaning back in to kiss her again.

San-Li broke into a large smile and move away from him towards the door.

"Come on," She said over her shoulder. "We'll be late for dinner."

Sam followed her down the hallway mildly annoyed with himself. San-Li had little control if any so he was going to have to have enough control for both of them. The walked through the inn until they came to a mid sized dining room and the only one sitting at the table was Fukuhara who didn't seem that happy to see them. Sam sat down feeling a bit awkward while San-Li poured Fukuhara what looked like a cup of water.

"So Fukuhara," Sam said as San-Li poured him a cup as well. "San-Li never told me what you did for a living."

Fukuhara snarled at him and took a drink of water before answering. "I am vice president of Ikumara Industries Incorporated. We manufacture harmless house hold appliances despite whatever you Americans try to peg us as."

"Fukuhara please." San-Li said softly laying a hand on his arm.

He grunted angrily and roughly pulled his arm from out under her hand, but held out his cup for her to refill. Sam looked back and forth between them feeling slightly uncomfortable. He took a sip of his water and nearly choked on it. That was definitely not water.

"San-Li," He whispered urgently. "Did you give me alcohol? I told you before I don't drink."

"I'm sorry I forgot." She whispered back pouring him a glass of water instead. "It's sake. Everyone here drinks it. And try to call me Setsuko around others alright? "

She then downed his old cup and shuddered a little. Sam laid his hand on top of hers and Fukuhara cleared his throat angrily. San-Li gently removed Sam's hand from hers and poured Fukuhara another cup of sake. Sam looked back and forth between them and felt both uncomfortable and little bit annoyed. San-Li was acting like this guy was her ex boyfriend or something, but that couldn't be right. Fukuhara looked like he was close to forty-five and San-Li wasn't even seventeen yet.

The three of them sat in awkward silence until everyone else showed up followed by the maids carrying their dinner. Light and friendly conversation started as they ate. Sam relaxed a little bit couldn't help stealing glances at Fukuhara from time to time. San-Li must have noticed because she gently started to caress his knee.

"So Bando," General Thompson said. "I remember you telling me something about your geisha women being really good dancers?"

"Why yes," Bando nodded eagerly. "Our very own Setsuko is a very accomplished dancer. She'll be happy to preform a few short pieces."

"Oh please do Setsuko." Misuki piped up. "I'll back you up on the shamisen."

"Well..." San-Li looked at Sam and blushed. "I guess a short piece won't hurt. Do you mind playing _Dorobō o aisuru yō ni _?"

Misuki nodded eagerly and picked up a small guitar like instrument and started to tune it. San-Li flashed him another smile and then moved away from the table to stand on the other side of the room. She knelt down with one knee touching the floor and pulled two fans out of her obi.

Sam watched breathlessly as Misuki played a song and San-Li started to dance. Passion was in every movement that she made and matched the pace of the music. Sam caught his breath as the music became more frantic and a look of panic came across San-Li's face. The music reached its peak and stopped suddenly San-Li froze in place. The tune of the shamisen became slow and filled with sadness and San-Li slowly sank backwards with her fan held high in the air.

Everyone began clapping and cheering and Sam leaned over to the geisha next to him.

"What was that song about?" He whispered. "It was amazing."

"I believe in your language it translates to 'To love a thief.'" She whispered back excitedly. "It's a beautifully tragic story about a thief who falls in love and they have a passionate affair. But when their affair is discovered the thief is unable to protect the lover and dies from grief."

"Oh wow." San-Li panted sitting back down at the table. "I haven't done that in forever. I almost forgot the steps for a minute."

"You danced beautifully as always." Bando raised his cup in a toast.

"Yeah, that was amazing." The lieutenant grinned at her. "The girls back home sure don't dance like that."

"Yeah," Sam smiled at San-Li. "Amazing."


	5. Chapter 5

That night Sam had the same nightmare he had been having for a few years now. He was sitting at a desk and his leg was chained to the chair. Piles of books and papers stretched to the ceiling on either side of him and no matter how hard he worked the piles never got smaller. A faceless man and woman paced around him wearing black business suits.

"Who was the first European explorer to discover New Zealand?" The woman thundered.

"Um, um, Abel Janszoon Tasman on 13 December 1642." Sam said.

"Scientific name for crocodile?" The man bellowed.

"Crocodylinae." Sam answered feeling a bead of sweat roll down his back.

"Hey Sam!" He looked up and saw Fred and Joe waving to him from a distance.

"Sam come on," Joe called to him. "Hurry up!"

Sam tried to wave back but his arm wouldn't move. He looked down in terror and realized that his arms were now shackled to the desk.

"Hey!" Sam yelled struggling to break free. "Let me out of here!"

Fred and Joe started to fade and Sam was left in the dark again with the man and the woman glaring down at him.

"Samuel!" The man slammed his fist on the desk. "Focus or you will fail this exam!"

"How many atoms are in potassium?" The woman snarled.

"Um, um," Sam struggled to free himself and found it difficult to breathe. "6.022× 10 to the twenty second power!"

The man and the woman laughed menacingly and snarling grins appeared under the shadows where their eyes should have been. "WRONG ANSWER SAMUEL!"

"Hm, guess he wasn't as smart as we thought he was." Joe and Fred turned away and faded completely.

Sam felt tears sting his eyes but when he opened his mouth to try and call them back, no sound came out. Suddenly, the desk he was shackled to fell through the darkness and he screamed in terror. All around him voices were laughing maliciously as he fell, ignoring his cries for help. Then he heard a different voice, a softer familiar voice.

"Sam, Sam." It called. "Sam, SAM!"

Sam gasped awake and saw San-Li looked down at him in concern. She caressed his the side of his face and Sam leaned into her palm gratefully. She then drew her hand back and gently hit the side of his face.

"Hey!" He said laughing a little.

"Hey, yourself." She laughed a little nervously. "You scared me tossing and turning like that. You sounded like you were having a nightmare."

Sam shrugged and sat up. "It was nothing really."

He sat up and it took him a moment to realize they were in the bedroom at the inn. He was in his pajamas while San-Li was wearing shorts and a tank top. He got out of his futon and went over to their luggage.

"What are you doing?" San-Li asked him.

"Nothing." He mumbled pulling out one of his textbooks and a flashlight.

He went back to his futon and opened up to the chapter he was last reading, clicking on the flashlight to see better.

"Really?" San-Li said folding her arms across her chest. "Are you actually studying? I thought you already finished your midterms."

"I did." Sam mumbled. "But I still have finals."

"Yeah in four months."

"I still have to be ready for it."

"Ugh." San-Li leaned over and pulled the book out of his hands.

"Hey!" Sam glared at her. "Give that back, San-Li."

San-Li held it out of his reach and put a hand on his chest. "What's your gpa right now?"

"5.01." Sam made another lunge for his book. "Why does that matter?"

"Because it sounds to me like you can afford not to always be studying." San-Li pushed him onto his back.

"No, I don't think I can." Sam grumbled folding his arms.

San-Li sighed and laid down next to him. "What in the world is wrong with you that you think that you always have to study? Don't you know that you're already the smartest guy in the world?"

Sam sighed and rubbed a hand against his face. "What if I'm not though? What if end up failing?"

"You won't. There's no way you would." He felt San-Li lay her head on his shoulder. "But even if you did I'd still think you were pretty amazing."

Sam felt the corner of his mouth twitch up but he still couldn't shake his nightmare. San-Li must have felt him shudder because she gently squeezed his arm.

"Tell me." She whispered.

Sam took a deep breath and told her what happened in his dream and that he had been dreaming it ever so often for the past couple of years. When he finished he was surprised and a bit offended to hear her struggling not to laugh.

"Hey," Sam sat up frowning. "It was pretty traumatic okay."

"I'm sorry." San-Li chuckled and sat up too. "But first of all Fred and Joe aren't the brightest bulbs themselves, but they wouldn't abandon you for something as stupid as failing some sporadic pop quiz."

"It isn't the quiz itself, it's what it represents." Sam insisted. "If I don't keep studying and working hard I'll lose everything I ever worked for."

"And if you keep pushing yourself too hard and stressing out so much you'll have a psychotic break by the time you're twenty five. Besides," San-Li's voice softened and she caressed his cheek. "You have absolutely nothing to worry about. It's your love of knowledge that matters, not how much of it you can spout out at a moment's notice. "

Sam practically melted at her touch and he smiled at her. "How is it that you always know how to make me feel better?"

"Well duh isn't it obvious?" San-Li laughed and rolled her eye. "I love...you."

San-Li froze in shock and snatched her hand away from his face.

"Wait." Sam sat straight up and stared at her. "What did you just say?"

"Nothing." San-Li rolled over so her back was to him. "Nothing. Forget I said anything."

"Well that'd be kinda hard to do." Sam said quietly. "Especially since I sorta... definitely... love you too."

San-Li stiffened and she scoffed. "Please. You don't even know me."

"I don't know your history." Sam corrected. "But I have a pretty good idea of who you are."

"Oh really," San-Li looked over her shoulder at him. "Who am I, Sam?"

"Well," Sam felt his face grow hot, but he reached over to touch her arm. "You are an incredibly amazing girl, woman, who makes me laugh, who's honest even if it's brutal. A person who's strong and independent, and smart. And who makes my life fun and exciting whether I want it to be or not."

San-Li gave the barest of smiles. "You forgot psychopathic time thief."

"I'm sure you have your reasons." Sam shrugged. "Even if you aren't comfortable telling me-"

"My entire family was murdered when I was a kid."

Sam blinked and sat straight up. "What?"

San-Li rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. "There's a lot about the world of time magic that you guys don't know about. Time agents, time enforcers, time keepers, and of course the Warp Wizard. All of them are supposed to, in some way, keep time flowing the way it's supposed to."

"Were you a time agent?" Sam asked.

"Naw," San-Li shook her head slowly. "You have to go to school for a few years to do that. I came from a family of time keepers. We're supposed to work directly under the Warp Wizard and we're trained from childhood to be able to blend in to any time period to make sure history stays on course."

"What happened?" Sam's voice dropped to a whisper.

"I dunno." Tears filled San-Li's eye but she kept staring at the ceiling. "When I was ten my mom woke me up in the middle of the night, shoved me into a hidden room, and some people broke in and slaughtered my entire family while I watched helpless and frozen in fear."

"Ten?" Sam's jaw dropped. "You were _ten_?"

When he was ten Joe had gotten The Book for the first time and his biggest worry was not getting home in time for dinner or his mom would ground him. San-Li's entire family had been killed before her eyes.

Sam swallowed. "Is that what happened to your eye?"

San-Li laughed humorlessly. "You and your obsession with this stupid eye!"

She sat up, tore off her eye patch, threw it to the ground, and pushed her bang back. Her left eye lid had a large straight burn over it that looked like it with was made with a heated piece of metal and the iris was a dull gray instead of black like the other and there were red cracks in it that glowed like dull embers.

"This," She said pointing to it. "Is where my bond to the Warp Wizard _used _ to be."

"You were bonded to the Warp Wizard?" Sam asked astonished.

"My whole family was and our bond was always in our left eye." She chuckled. "Hell, I even knew the last Warp Wizard even before he became the Warp Wizard."

"You did?"

"Yep." San-Li wrapped her arms around her knees. "We were best friends until we were nine and then he warped and when came back I was still nine, but he was twenty. When you warp you may return at the same time but your body keeps aging. The very next year my family was murdered and when I asked him for help he actually told me no."

San-Li smiled but tears were streaming down her face. "That bastard told me that that was how history was meant to run. I swore I'd get The Book from him even if it killed me. And that's when he put the ban on it. So I broke our bond the hard way."

"You burned your own eye?" Sam's eyes widened in horror. "You burned your own eye."

"Yeah," She whispered. "I would rather burn both eyes and be blind than be bonded to that heartless bastard."

"I'm so sorry." Sam shook his head slowly. "I can't believe- that's horrible."

"Oh wait, there's more." San-Li chuckled darkly. "For some reason the people who murdered my family aren't traceable through regular time magic. I can't even use my pocket watch and travel to when my family was killed to try and prevent it. So I had to go through the black market to find clues which is how I became a time thief."

San-Li suddenly straightened up and wiped the tears from her face. "So you see why I'm no good for you Sam? Do you see why I keep everything a secret? Because I refuse to move on Sammy-boy. When I find the ones responsible for my family's murder...I'm going to kill them. Mercilessly. Like they did my _entire _family. My parents, my aunts and uncles, my cousins, my grandparents, my...my little brother..."

Sam stared at her silently trying to process everything. San-Li's past was incredibly dark and he wasn't entirely sure if he could handle someone with that much baggage. Or could he? There were times when she didn't seem like anything was wrong in her life. As a matter of fact, she was always the one cheering him up and making him cut loose. She seemed happy and free around him. And maybe that's what she needed...

"You don't have to say anything." San-Li sighed breaking the awkward silence. "You don't need any of this mud in your squeaky clean life. I shouldn't be selfish and try to keep you. So I guess I'll have to let you go."

She reached for her eye patch, but Sam grabbed her arm. She sighed and hung her head.

"What are you doing, Sam?" She asked sadly.

Honestly, he didn't know. And it felt good not to know. For once it felt good not to know what he was doing.

"Just," he licked his lips nervously. "bear with me for a moment."

Sam reached out and laid a hand against her cheek and lifted her face up to look at him. He stared at her and she stared back at him, her face still wet with tears. She almost looked afraid of what he might say. But Sam didn't say anything. Instead he pulled her into him and kissed her deeply, and she responded, for once being the timid one. Sam turned off all thought and pulled her down onto the futon with him and held her in his arms for the rest of the night.


	6. Chapter 6

When he woke up San-Li was gone. There were two bowls of rice and a pot of tea next to the futons. Both bowls were untouched so he guessed she skipped breakfast. Sam ate and got dressed and she still hadn't returned so he decided to walk around by himself. He usually hated being alone during a warp because any number of things could happen, but the inn seemed harmless enough. He did notice something strange though. A lot of the guests were men who always wore heavy robes and whose hands always seemed to be somewhere near their hips or on their belts. By the way they looked suspiciously at him and the other guests Sam guessed they were probably guards or something.

"Ah, Sam Kikin." A voice said behind him. "How's life treating you son?"

Sam turned and saw General Thompson walking down the hall toward him.

"Good, sir." Sam said.

"What do you think about these Japanese vacations?" Thompson asked. "They sure know how to do it up for people who just lost a war."

"Yeah this place is incredible." Sam nodded. "I wonder when it was built."

"Bando tells me that this place had been around for more than three centuries. Something about rival samurai during the Sengoku period or something." The general shook his head and laughed. "I don't know much about what he's talking about though. The only history I know is good ole American history."

"The Sengoku period occurred between the 1400s and 1600s and there was a lot of social and political upheavals occurring. I believed they called it the Warring States period." Sam said happy to share his knowledge. "I believe it ended with Tokugawa Ieyasu around 1615 or so."

The general laughed. "You sure do know a lot about Japanese history young man."

"I also believe that there were a few rival clans that fought for decades." Sam continued. "As a matter of fact I think I remember reading that this island was named for one of those clans. This was supposed to be their main hideout."

"Huh," The General mused. "I wonder if that was what Bando meant about there being historical national treasures on this island."

"Treasure?" Sam's interest spiked considerably. "Did Bando happen to mention what kind of treasure there was here?"

"If you ask me I think it's all a bunch of who-ha," The General said. "It does explain though why there are so many guards here."

They walked into the large room where they had dinner the night before and found everyone else there waiting for them. Bando and Fukuhara were sitting on cushions watching Korin and Misuki dance while San-Li played the shamesin and Komaki beat a drum and sang. Sam and the general sat down with the others and watched the rest of the dance. When they were finished everyone clapped politely.

"Now that everyone is here," Bando said standing up. "Let us all take a tour of the island."

Sam automatically went to San-Li, but she brushed past him and went to Fukuhara instead. He felt his heart sink into his stomach. He scared her off he just knew it. He had told her he loved her too soon, right? Or was the soul opening too much? Up to now San-Li had been reclusive about her past and telling him probably scared her away from him forever.

He was so lost in his panicky thoughts that he could barely enjoy the beautiful tour of the island. All he could see was San-Li carefully ignoring him and paying attention to everyone else. After a brisk walk up the side of a mountain to get to a ledge that over looks the ocean, everyone was tired and decided to take a break for lunch. He sat a little off to the side while everyone broke into smaller groups to chat. To be honest even if he wanted to talk to anyone he was way too winded.

"Well you look absolutely exhausted." San-Li laughed walking up to him. "You hungry? I brought you some lunch."

"San-Li!" Sam jumped up. "I'm so, so sorry! I never meant to-"

"Shut up and sit down, Sam." San-Li sighed. "And lower your voice please."

Sam sat down and was relieved when she sat down with him. She handed him a white box containing rice, fish, and something red and squishy looking. He picked over it, feeling too nervous to eat.

"I'm sorry." Sam said quietly. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable last night."

"Did you mean what you said?" San-Li whispered. "You know, about loving me and all that? Even after what I told you?"

"Yes." Sam answered automatically. "I...I love you San-Li."

"Alright then." San-Li stood up and dusted herself off. "Then that's all we need to say about it then."

"Wait!" Sam said urgently as she started to walk away.

San-Li stopped and looked at him but didn't sit back down.

"Can we talk for a second please?" Sam begged. "I feel like you're ignoring me."

"That's because I'm working." San-Li gave a half smile.

"Can you tell me what you're looking for? Please?"

San-Li sighed in annoyance and knelt down next to him to whisper in his ear.

"I'm looking for an item that can help me find the people who killed my family." San-Li whispered quickly. "It's rumored to be on this island and I'm trying to find out where without being too obvious about it."

"Be careful when you do find it." Sam whispered. "I found out that a lot of the guests here are actually guards and they're protecting some national historical treasures rumored to be here."

"I knew it!" San-Li hissed.

She looked away for a moment with her lips pressed together, deep in thought no doubt. She then turned back to Sam and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"Thanks Sam, but I definitely need to back to work now." She smiled.

"Wait," Sam grabbed her hand and pulled her back down to him. He hesitated before giving her a small peck on the lips. "I, um... I still want to talk to you about... something important, okay?"

San-Li gave a small, teasing smirk. "I hope you aren't planning on proposing because it's a little soon for that.

Sam blushed and laughed a little. "N-no it isn't that, but it is important."

San-Li made a noise of uncertainty. "I dunno, Sam. I'm going to have to do some major snooping tonight."

"Please? It's... important."

"Alright." San-Li sighed. "But I probably won't be back til late tonight."

Sam nodded eagerly. "I'll wait up for you."

San-Li flashed him another smile before going back to Fukuhara who was now glaring at them. His glare faded somewhat when San-Li made some comment that him and Bando laugh.


	7. Chapter 7

"So Bando-san," Korin said at dinner that night. "Setsuko was telling me stories about American urban legends that she heard from her danna. Doesn't this inn have some sort of legend of its own?"

Sam glanced over and saw that San-Li was busy pouring Fukuhara more tea and didn't appear to be listening, but he knew her better than that. Her hand trembled just the slightest bit and she glanced over at Bando with an almost hungry look.

"Ah, the legend of the hidden samurai," Bando laughed. "I'm sure no one wants to hear that old tale."

San-Li's hand tightened and her eyes flashed downwards to hide her irritation.

"Actually," Sam spoke up. "I know I would love to hear it. I sorta have a thing for samurai stories."

General Thompson laughed. "I can most certainly attest to that Bando. This boy here can sure rattle on about samurai and Japanese history."

"Very well, I shall tell it then," Bando sat up straighter and cleared his throat. "More than five hundred years ago Japan was being torn apart by feuding clans and the samurai acted as their enforcers. One such clan, the Hidden Leaf clan, were especially scrupulous at finding their enemies while staying hidden. It was rumored that they used magic."

Bando paused for dramatic effect and looked around the room to make sure they were listening.

" _Akiraka Ni Suru Fan_ or Revealing Fan is what the legend said they used to find their enemies locations." Bando said in a low voice. "When the fan is waved over a map any locations hidden or lost will appear on the map magically. It was lost when Tokugawa Ieyasu came into power but rumor has it that there is a place on this very island where the clan used to meet and the fan is hidden there to this day."

"Bah! Foolishness, Bando-san," Fukuhara interrupted, waving an hand dismissively. "The Hidden Leaf clan destroyed their enemies through careful military strategics, not magic."

"Perhaps it is just as you say Fukuhara-san, but I just love stories and legends about samurai and magic." Komaki said with a giggle.

"You geisha are the most superstitious bunch of people I ever met," Fukuhara scoffed and pulled out a box of cigarettes.

"Fukuhara-san is right," San-Li laughed. She took the box from Fukuhara, pulled out a cigarette, lit it for him, and took a puff before giving it back to him."Urban legends and stuff is fun to hear about, but it's really just a bunch of nonsense."

Fukuhara contently smoked his cigarette and nodded. "Setsuko is the only geisha here with any sense."

"Fukuhara my friend, you were always a skeptical sort." Bando laughed.

"I'm not quite sure about urban legends myself." Lieutenant Jefferey pulled out a cigarette of his own and looked at San-Li expectantly.

With a small seductively laugh she lit it for him and took the first puff before handing it back to him. Fukuhara frowned and held up his sake cup for her to fill. After dinner General Thompson pulled Sam aside for a game of checkers so he didn't see the exact moment San-Li left but when little by little everyone started to go to bed, she was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

Sam laid awake alone in the room. His mind was running back and forth too much to sleep. He was in love. He actually said it and more importantly she had said it back! In all honesty Sam actually didn't think this would happen until he got to college. But here he was, not even a senior yet and he was in love with a beautiful, wonderful person.

"But what do we do now?" He whispered out loud.

Marriage? It was way too soon for that. Sam planned on finishing college and getting a good job before he even considered trying to marry San-Li. But...there were other things though... things that people their age did when they hadn't even been dating that long. Sam could feel himself blush at the mere thought of having sex. He was almost eighteen so of course those kinds of feelings weren't exactly foreign to him, but he was also too smart to go blindly into that sort of stuff. But lately...

Sam sighed in frustration and anxiousness. He really needed to talk to San-Li and discuss what saying the L-word was going to mean for their relationship. Was she expecting sex? He honestly couldn't tell. San-Li was seductive and flirty but it didn't automatically mean that she was ready. Would she want to get married one day?

Suddenly, San-Li came bursting into the room and hurriedly closed the door. She was no longer in a kimono, but was now wearing dark track pants and a black tank top.

Sam smiled and sat up. "I'm glad your back-"

"Shhh!" San-Li urgently shushed him and jumped into his futon.

She straddled his lap and roughly started to take his shirt off.

"San-Li stop!" Sam cried out panicking. "W-we can't do this now we have to talk first!"

"Shhh! Shhh! " San-Li whispered urgently and finished taking his shirt off, revealing his pale, scrawny chest. "I promise this will make sense soon, just hold on for a minute!"

Sam's heart almost exploded when San-Li took her shirt off revealing her own magnificent breasts, barely contained by strips of cloth.

"SAN-LI WHAT ARE YOU-!" Sam's shriek was cut off by her mouth pressed against his and she pushed his bare chest so that he was laying flat on his back with her on top of him. A strangled moan burst from somewhere deep in his chest and his arms wrapped around her seemingly of their own accord. He heard San-Li give a small surprised moan when he deepened their kiss.

"_TEISHI!"_

Several people burst into the room shining bright flashlights and Sam and San-Li bolted upright in surprise. Sam screamed and blinked at the sudden bright lights. His vision cleared and he saw several guards with their guns out glaring at them. San-Li gave a little embarrassed shriek and covered her chest with her arms. The guards took a second look at them and their glares dissolved. A couple of them snickered.

"My apologies," One of the guards bowed to them. "We thought we saw someone suspicious run this way. Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary?"

Sam shook his head adamantly and San-Li turned her face away from them, seemingly too embarrassed to speak.

"My apologies again then," The guard bowed again and gestured for the others to leave. "Please enjoy the rest of your night."

He slid the door shut and they heard the footsteps go down the hall and eventually fade away.

"Oh geez," San-Li sighed in relief and climbed off of Sam. "That was way too close."

Sam stared at her mutely. He could still feel his heart jack hammering in his chest and his whole body was shaking. San-Li looked at him and blushed.

"What? I'm sorry okay?" She mumbled. "I was snooping and they almost caught me. I needed it to look like I was here the whole time doing...other things."

Sam's mouth was open but no sound came out. A thousand different emotions and feelings were going through him at once and his body was practically buzzing. San-Li cringed at his silence and started to reach for her shirt.

"Um, so did you still want to talk to me about some-"

"To hell with talking."

Sam grabbed her arm and roughly pulled her down into the futon.

* * *

Early morning sunlight streamed through the paper window. Sam could hear San-Li humming under her breath as she did her hair in front of the make up stand. He finished getting dressed and looked up to see that she was watching him in the mirror. He smiled at her.

"What?" He asked softly.

"Want to help me brush my hair?" She asked holding out her hair brush.

He took the brush and got on his knees behind her and started brushing. As he brushed his gaze wondered down to where her neck met her shoulder and saw a vibrant red bruise that stood out against her pale skin. He found himself smiling and a strange sense of pride began to well up inside of him. He glanced up and saw that San-Li was watching him in the mirror.

"What?" He asked.

"Are you okay?" She asked softly.

Sam blushed but couldn't help but smile. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

San-Li laughed and tilted her face up for him to kiss her.

"I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too." San-Li laughed and then elbowed him away. "Now enough with the sentimental crap, it's time for me to get back to work."

She finished up her hair and stood up to put on the rest of her kimono. It suddenly hit Sam that they had forgotten something very, _very _important last night. He mentally kicked himself for being so careless.

"San-Li wait! What are we going to do about-"

"Don't worry about it," San-Li waved her hand dismissively. "I got it covered."

Before Sam could ask what she meant, there was a knock at their door and San-Li opened it to let in a maid carrying tea and rice for them.

"_Arigatō._" San-Li bowed and closed the door.

Sam sat down with her to eat and watched as she poured a small packet of herbs into her cup of tea before downing it in a single gulp. She then took a few bites of rice and then stood up.

"Sorry but you're going to have to hang out without me for a while again today." She said tying her obi around her waist. "I'm going to try and find the place where I think the fan is without being too conspicuous."

"Oh." Sam tried not to sound too disappointed.

San-Li chuckled and kissed him on the cheek. "If anyone asks I'm not feeling well. 'Kay?"

Instead of going to the door she headed to the window and flashed him another smile before jumping out.


	8. Chapter 8

She wore a light green and blue kimono with a light brown obi and tried to look casual as she walked through the woods in case anyone saw her. If they did she would just say she hadn't been feeling well and had gone for a walk hoping the fresh air would make her feel better.

San-Li sighed as she picked her way carefully over the foliage with tall, wooden shoes. She was stupid bringing Sam with her. What she needed to do was focus, not act like some love sick teenager. If that stupid lieutenant hadn't always been staring at her and practically drooling, and if Bando hadn't keep joking about renting her to him then she wouldn't have even considered bringing Sam in the first place. She was normally single minded about her trips; get in, get what she wanted, and get out. But right now all she wanted to do was go back to that room and-

"Arg! Focus! Focus!" San-Li hit herself in the side of her head trying to clear it.

She took out the piece of paper that she had hastily wrote down her notes on. According to her notes she should be coming up to an old village pretty soon. She climbed up a hill, pushed through some bushes, and saw it laying below. She started to move forward when her foot caught against something she couldn't see. She feel forward and felt a swish at the back of her neck. She looked up and saw a large blade stuck in the tree next to her. Her neck stung a little and when she reached back to touch it she felt blood.

"Great." She mumbled.

San-Li stood up and noticed a thin string that she had tripped over and followed it's path and saw that it was rigged to a relatively simple booby trap. She pulled out a dagger and cut apart the trap, hoping that she didn't trigger any alarms. The string was pretty stiff with age so hopefully there wasn't. She moved a little more carefully from then on and stopped at the edge of the woods.

The village had been converted to a military base. Guards were scattered about and didn't even try to disguise themselves as tourists. They carried military riffles making San-Li cringe. Bullets were a lot harder to dodge than swords or knives.

"Guess I'll have to do this the hard way." San-Li mumbled under her breath.

She untied her obi and let the outer part of kimono fall from her shoulders, leaving her in just the knee length under robe. She flung the clothes up into a tree and stepped out her wooden shoes. San-Li took several deep breaths and shot towards the village, dodging in between the guards.

One guard spotted her and started to call out but a quick blow to the throat cut him off. She then elbowed him in the head effectively knocking him out before he could raise his gun on her. San-Li grunted a little as she pulled him into a secluded spot and pulled out a knife. She laid the blade against his jugular vein but then hesitated. Her hand shook and she couldn't bring herself to cut him.

"Come on, you've done this hundreds of times," San-Li mumbled under her breath. "If you don't he's just going wake up and blow your cover!"

She pressed the blade more firmly against the guard's neck, but just...couldn't bring herself to do it. She swore loudly and the guard began to stir. She punched him hard in the face before he could focus on her and moved away quickly. She ducked into another small, ruined house and waited for the guards to pass by. She peaked out of the window and saw an old fashioned shrine a few houses away.

"That has to be where they're keeping the fan." She mumbled to herself.

She balked when she saw there was a larger concentration of guards there. Again she started to have second thoughts. San-Li groaned and laid her head on her knees. Her left eye was beginning to burn again from the broken magic and she snatched off her eye patch to rub it vigorously. She pulled a piece of fabric out of her robe and studied the crudely drawn symbol on it. It too was becoming stiff with age and was frayed around the edges. Her uncle had torn it off the sleeve of one of the people who attacked their family before he and his son were killed. She had found it under their bodies. Looking at it usually helped her get angry enough to refocus herself, but now she only felt weary and sad.

She slapped herself hard in the face and heard the sound echo through the small, empty hut. She closed her eyes and pictured the very last time she her family- laying dead with their blood splattered against the walls and covered the floor. Some nights she still woke up sweating from nightmares. Those people had to pay for what they did to her family and she was going to be the one to make sure they did.

"I should come back at night," She mused out loud. "It'd be easier to sneak around. I might have to take Sam with me though so it'd be easier to get the hell of here."

Glancing out of the window again, she noticed that the sun was a lot lower in the sky than it was before. If she hurried back now she could make it to the inn in time for dinner, make a final appearance and sneak into the shrine when it's nice and dark. Hopefully Sam will be able to keep up and not make too much noise.

"Well I guess I have a plan then." San-Li sighed and tied her eye patch back on.

She waited for a couple of guards to walk by and then darted out back to the cover of the trees.

**A/N- Sorry if this chapter was a bit short and sorry but everything really picks up after this. Review please**


	9. Chapter 9

The day had passed by almost painfully slowly for Sam. It wasn't that it was difficult to talk to the other guests, as a matter of fact only Fukuhara remain hostile and standoffish to him. Truth be told, he just missed San-Li. That and not having to limit his knowledge to just before the 1940s.

Eventually night had fallen and Sam went back to the room to change clothes for dinner. There was a light tapping on the window and he shrieked in surprise. A wide grin spread across his face when he spun around and saw San-Li crouched on the ledge right outside the window. Sam hurriedly went to let her in and she landed on the floor almost soundly.

"Go ahead and make sure that your stuff is packed up." She said shortly. "We'll be leaving tonight."

"Um, sure," Sam blinked and moved to gather his things. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"No, but we're picking it up tonight after dinner." San-Li picked up a fresh kimono. "We just have to let the others know that we're leaving on a private plan so they don't freak out when we don't show up tomorrow."

"Okay."

Sam finished packing his things and watched as she did the same. She turned around and he saw a large, shallow cut on the back of her neck.

"Hey, you're hurt!" Sam eyed her in concern. "What happened?"

"Wha?" San-Li blinked and touched the back of her neck. "Oh. It's nothing. I ran into an old booby trap that's all. It isn't even bleeding that much anymore."

"Well we should still take care of it." Sam laid a hand on her arm. "If you leave it open like that, it could get infected. Not to mention that people might ask questions."

"I said it's fine alright!" San-Li snapped and impatiently shook him off.

Sam's face fell and he looked at her in confusion. "Why are you mad at me? What did I do?"

San-Li looked up at him and looked down again. She sighed and rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand.

"I'm not mad at you." She shrugged her shoulders weakly. "I'm just a little on edge. There are a lot of guards protecting the fan and I'm a little nervous bringing you with me. But it'd be even more dangerous to try and come back for you after I steal it."

"We'll figure something out." Sam tried to reassure her even though he could feel himself starting to sweat nervously.

San-Li chuckled and smirked up at him. "Stop trying to act brave. I can tell that you're terrified."

"When am I not?" Sam laughed and gently caressed her cheek. "Now will you please let me take care of that cut?"

"Oh, alright." San-Li gestured to her bag. "Front pocket. Get out some antiseptic wipes, some cut sealant, and some cover up."

Sam pulled out the supplies from her bag and hurried back over to her. San-Li turned around and loosened her robe so that it fell around her shoulders, giving him better access to her neck. He caught his breath at her beautiful pale skin criss-crossed with pale pink scars.

San-Li turned her head to look at him and smirked. "You alright back there?"

"Yeah," Sam blinked and licked his dry lips. "Yeah I'm fine."

San-Li giggled and turned back around. Sam's hands trembled a little as he tore open the first antiseptic wipe and gently wiped the cut on her neck. She hissed a little in pain so he gently blew on the cut to try to soothe the sting of the alcohol. He then applied the cut sealant and the cover up to her cut and let his fingers gently drift downward to rest on her bare shoulder. His placed his other hand on the remaining shoulder and gently began to massage them. San-Li sighed happily making him smile.

"Did you want to just skip dinner and stay here?" She whispered.

"We can't," Sam whispered and kissed her ear. "We have to keep up appearances remember?"

San-Li chuckled seductively. "Well I am your mistress, remember? If my dana-sama wants me to himself for a few hours, who am I to say no?"

He felt his neck grow hot and his grip tightened on her shoulders. She laughed and started to turn towards him when there was a rapid, impatient knocking on the door. Sam sighed and dropped his hands from her shoulders. San-Li sighed too in disappointed and went to slide the door open. Fukuhara smiled down at her but when he saw Sam he scowled.

"Yes Fukuhara-san?" San-Li asked.

"You are late for dinner." He said gruffly. "So I have come to fetch you myself."

"Maybe she was planning on skipping dinner." Sam mumbled.

Fukuhara shot him a glare and San-Li groaned in annoyance. She gently pushed Fukuhara out the room and slid the door shut behind her. Sam heard some muffled talking in Japanese; Fukuhara losing his temper and San-Li trying to placate him. After a few minutes San-Li came back and shut the door while Fukuhara waited in the hall.

San-Li flashed him a small smile and started to change into a different kimono. This one had a black under robe while the outer robe was dark red with gold dragon designs.

"So what was that about?" He asked turning his back respectfully.

"Fukuhara is... a complicated man." She sighed. "If you couldn't already tell I've spent some time here before on and off looking for this fan. Fukuhara has become a bit protective of me."

"How much does he, um, know about you?"

San-Li lightly touched his arm and then wound her arms around his waist from behind. "Not nearly as much as you know about me."

They walked out of the room together holding hands but Fukuhara quickly got between them and offered his arm to San-Li instead. Sam frowned and started to say something but she shook her head and smiled up at Fukuhara.

At dinner though San-Li was careful to pay equal attention to both him and Fukuhara. She chatted in Japanese to Fukuhara, but she also constantly leaned over to whisper in Sam's ear how cute he looked. He often flushed in mild embarrassment while Fukuhara flushed in annoyance.

The maids came in to clear the dinner plates and replaced them with plates of small pieces of colorful, shaped gelatin for dessert. Sam poked at his awkwardly and San-Li giggled.

"It's getting late." She said. "We should probably tell everyone now."

Bando looked at them quizzically. "Tell us what, Setsuko?"

San-Li nudged Sam's arm so he cleared his throat and stood. "Um, I some business to attend to in the United States and my father will be sending a boat for us in the morning."

"Very early." San-Li said standing with him. "We apologize for having to leave this trip so abruptly."

They both bowed to everyone who said how sad they were to see them leave and hoped to see them again soon. Everyone except Fukuhara that is. He just sat there staring angrily into his cup of sake. Sam and San-Li gave a final bow and left towards their room.

They were about to go inside when Fukuhara hurried after them looking more than a little agitated. Sam started to step protectively in front of San-Li but she rolled her eyes and pulled him back again.

"I don't trust him San-Li." Sam whispered.

"Just relax. It's cool." She mumbled.

Fukuhara's face was blooming with anger by the time he reached them and roughly grabbed San-Li's wrist making her yelp in pain.

"Hey! Let go of her!" Sam said angrily.

"You stay out of this!" Fukuhara angrily waved him away.

"It's cool, Sam." San-Li repeated through gritted teeth. "Fukuhara, we talked about this. I need to go home now."

"He is no good for you." Fukuhara gestured to Sam angrily. "He cannot take care of you the way that I can!"

"You're old enough to be my grandfather!" San-Li hissed. "Besides, I don't need anyone to take of me you know that."

"You are going to regret this." Fukuhara warned in a low, angry voice. "Stop this now and return home with me. This- this child is not fit for you!"

"I love him." San-Li said quietly. "And he loves me. That's all I need from him."

Fukuhara gave another angry exclamation and flung her wrist away angrily. He stalked down the hall and left out of a side door. San-Li took a shuddering breath and went into the bedroom with Sam following close behind.

"It sounds like you two have a lot of history together." Sam mumbled sliding the door shut. "Does he know that you're a time thief?"

"He knows I travel a lot." San-Li took off the outer robe and slipped into flatter shoes. "And that I sometimes do dangerous things. He's been trying to get me to quit so he can either adopt me or marry me."

"I see." Sam mumbled.

San-Li pulled out her red jewel and made all of their things disappear. She then walked over to the window and looked back at him with a half excited smile on her face.

"You're going to have to move fast okay? Try to stay close to me and try not to make a lot of noise. We're going to go in and get out quickly. " She said breathlessly. "Ready?"

Sam took one look at her excited and slightly manic expression on her face and felt his heart race with a strange mixture of nervousness, fear, and love for this insane girlfriend of his. He returned her grin with a weak smile and nodded.

"Ready."


	10. Chapter 10

San-Li swung herself downward from the ceiling and kicked two guards in the back of the head, effectively knocking them out. She then gave a short whistle and Sam cautiously dropped in from the window.

"Okay," She whispered pulling out a map of the shrine. "I know the _Akiraka Ni Suru_ Fan is somewhere around here but we just have to find out where exactly."

"Well right now we should be here in the Haiden," Sam said pointing to the biggest building of a cluster of buildings. "It's at the forefront of the shrine's main sanctuary. But back here is the Hondon which is the most sacred building of a traditional Shinto shrine."

"Well we can cross the Hondon off our list. Japanese are way too superstitious to defile it with common soldiers." San-Li mumbled. "Maybe we should start-"

"_Shin'nyū-sha ko no yō nii_!"

The sound of yelling and running footsteps came from down the hall and San-Li swore loudly. Three guards rounded a corner and ran towards them with their rifles pointed directly at them.

"Come on!" She yelled pulling Sam to his feet.

They ran down the hallway with the soldiers thundering footsteps quickly multiplying. Suddenly there was a loud, ear-shattering bang and San-Li gave a hiss of pain, stumbling a little. They rounded a corner and she quickly pulled Sam into a small, side hallway and pushed him against the wall. They waited until the guards ran by and then San-Li groaned and grabbed her upper arm.

"San-Li, are you alright?" Sam asked anxiously.

Shaking, San-Li pulled her hand away from her arm and there was a large, still growing blood stain as well as a tear on the sleeve on her kimono.

"It's alright." San-Li whispered. "The bullet only grazed me."

"How did they know we were here?" Sam whispered. "We were so careful."

San-Li ripped off her damaged sleeve and doubled it up. Hissing more than a little in pain she wrapped it tightly around the bleeding wound.

"I made a mistake." She mumbled. "We can't stay here. Let's keep moving."

"Are you sure?" Sam whispered putting a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe we should stop-"

San-Li whirled on him sharply, pinned him against the wall, and held a knife to his face. "Dont. Finish. That. Sentence."

Sam's stomach rose to his throat, but he made an effort to calm himself down. He swallowed nervously and gently placed his hand over hers. He looked her in the eye and slowly lowered the knife.

"Don't lash out on me." He said in a firm voice. "I"m on your side. You need to learn how to control your temper."

San-Li's lips trembled and she cleared her hard, cold expression with a sigh. There was the sound of running footsteps again and they quickly ran away. They accidentally ran into a different guard and fell to the floor.

The guard spun around with a cry of alarm and pointed his rifle at them. San-Li quickly pushed her pocket watch and the shrine map into Sam's hands and leapt up. The guard hesitated seeing that San-Li was a girl.

San-Li took the opportunity to grab the gun barrel and tried to wrestle it away from the guard. "Sam! Run!"

"I'm not leaving you behind!" Sam yelled.

There was a loud explosion as the gun fired into the ceiling. The guard kicked San-Li in the stomach, knocking her back. He pointed his rifle at her again and fired but she managed to duck under the bullet and ran at him with her sword drawn. The guard blocked her sword with his gun and they struggled, remaining locked together. The guard shouted out and more guards echoed from down the hall.

"I'll find you, I promise." San-Li grunted, sweat dripping down her forehead. "Just...I need you to stay safe. Please, I'm begging you."

Sam opened his mouth to protest when the guards shouting became louder. The guard San-Li was fighting twisted the gun away and hit San-Li in her injured arm with the butt of the gun. She stifled a cry of pain took a stumbled back but ran forward again.

"Sam go! I'll be fine!"

Sam hesitated for a second longer and took off running. Soon enough there was the sound of multiple gunshots and more yelling.

Sam ran and ran until he couldn't breath anymore and stumbled to his knees. He felt sick to his stomach with shame, worry, and fear. He left San-Li to fend for herself against guards carrying rifles. Some boyfriend he was.

He stood up shakily and pulled out the map of the shrine. It look like it had been altered so that there were a set of rooms below the ground floor. One room was bigger than the rest so he figured that it might be a meeting room.

The image of San-Li struggling to fight off fully armed guards flashed through his mind and he almost ran back there to be with her, even if it killed him.

"No Sam, you have to focus." He hissed to himself, running his fingers through his hair. "San-Li said that she can handle herself, you could use this time while the guards are distracted to find the fan. It's the whole reason why she's here."

Sam looked up suddenly as the thought hit him. Could he find the fan? Maybe. He had a pretty good idea where it was. Most likely it would be in one of the new underground rooms right? And when he did find it he could probably use it and the map of the shrine to find San-Li... if she was still alive that is.

"Of course she's alive." Sam shook the thought out of his mind. "She has to be."

He checked the map again and took off running towards the underground rooms.

* * *

San-Li yelled and kicked the guard in the chest. He flew back with a cry of pain and slammed into another guard, leaving them both sprawled out unconscious on the floor. Twenty seven other guards laid around in various positions, all in the same state.

Panting heavily, San-Li leaned against the wall to try and catch her breath. Her left cheek and both arms stung horribly from the furrows burnt into her arm from barely dodged bullets. The rest of her was covered with welts and dark blue, almost black bruises from their fists, boots, and butt of their guns beating the crap out of her. A couple of them got in a few good slashes at her with their knives.

San-Li coughed heavily and something red sprayed against out of her mouth. Great, internal bleeding. Probably from a punctured lung.

One of the guards groaned and she kicked him hard in the stomach. She should have killed them all. She should have killed that guard yesterday. Now Sam was wandering around by himself and he could get hurt... or worse.

If something happened to him she would kill herself plain and simple. There was already a bottle of vodka and sleeping pills waiting at home for when she finally avenged her family's slaughter, so why put off the inevitable any longer? Forget the fan, forget everything, just finally die already.

"Stop it." San-Li shook her head vigorously. "He's alive. I'm going to find him and get him home safely. That's top priority right now."

She closed her eyes and instantly recalled the map from memory. Sam would probably notice that there were newly constructed rooms underneath the shrine and head there. The little nerd was probably going to try and find the fan and use it to locate her or something.

"So the basement it is then." San-Li mumbled.

She pulled her sword out of the wall and paused when she saw a flask laying on the ground.

"No," She shook her head and walked past it. "I need to keep my head clear for this. Hold on Sam, I'm coming for you."


	11. Chapter 11

Sam wandered through the shine, praying that he wouldn't run into anymore guards. He crept down the hallway trying to be as quiet as possible. He willed his heart to slow down, paranoid that the guards might hear it and find him. Surprisingly he was able to remain undetected and crept his way to the lower floors. He glanced down at the map again and saw that there was supposed to be door somewhere on his left, but when he looked around he didn't see it. He also noticed that the hallway was empty except for a small altar.

"That's weird," he mumbled, peaking around the corner cautiously. "Where are all the guards?"

His first thought was that somehow San-Li had gotten ahead of him, but that was unlikely. His eyes drifted to the small altar and noticed that it sat slightly askew. He looked around one last time before walking over for a closer look. The altar wasn't pushed completely against the wall and behind it he could see a door.

"Yep," Sam mumbled, double checking the map. "This should be it."

Taking a deep breath to try and calm his nerves, he opened the door and went inside. A dark wooden stair case barely lit by candles led down into the darkness. Sam swallowed nervously and started heading down.

He reached the bottom and entered a large storage room filled with maps, charts, military uniforms, and other stuff. There were also several bunkers where a few soldiers were laying down asleep. Near the center of the room was a large table loaded with maps and charts. He looked around again and that's when he saw it. Sitting on a shelf between two Kōtoku-in statues was an intricately designed fan under a glass case.

"That has to be it." Sam whispered in excitement. "I can't believe I found the Akiraka_ Ni Suru_ Fan! Now I can find San-Li and finally get out of here."

He started to move towards it when a door opened and soldiers filed in, waking up the guards that were asleep in the bunks. Suddenly a hand wrapped around Sam's mouth and roughly pulled him behind one of the crates. Sam stifled a scream and tried to fight the arms that held him.

"Silence boy!" A hoarse voice hissed. "Or do you want us to be discovered and killed?"

Sam broke away from the grip and turned around. His jaw dropped when he saw who it was. Fukuhara.

* * *

San-Li pressed herself behind a pillar and waited for the guards to pass. As they ran past her she closed her eyes and recalled the map again. There were actually two separate ways to get to the secret rooms, she wondered which one Sam would head to. After the guards finally moved away she headed into a room on her left and went inside.

The room itself was pretty plain except for a Kōtoku-in statue sitting on a pedestal in the corner. When San-Li tugged on it, it rotated away from the wall revealing a secret passage way and a dark stair case leading downward. The door slid shut behind her, encasing her in near darkness. The only light was the occasional torch on the wall.

She reached the bottom and encountered a wooden door. She opened it and found herself in a warehouse like room with boxes and crates of ammunition and guns. Dingy ceiling lights made the whole place look eerie and her grip tightened on her sword. San-Li listened for any noises, wondering if Sam had maybe found his way down here.

"Boy, for a country who just lost a war they sure have a lot of guns." She mumbled to herself.

She peered into one of the boxes and saw a 1905 Type 38 Arisaka rifle which most likely used 6.5x50mm rounds. Her arms and face still stung from them grazing her skin. Even though she was more of a knife and dagger collector she still had a great appreciation for historical firearms.

"Focus San-Li, focus." She said shaking her head. "Sam is out here alone and the fan could be somewhere close by."

She peered into each of the crates but all she saw were guns and bullets. She knew she should probably be concerned about all these weapons, but the only thing that she could think about was finding Sam and the fan. She reached the other side of the room without finding anything and huffed in frustration, making her side ache. One room down, two more to go. She opened the door and the guards who was standing there whirled around with surprise written all over their faces.

"Oh, crap." San-Li mumbled.

* * *

"Fukuhara?" Sam whispered in astonishment. "What are you doing here?"

"Where is Setsuko-san?" Fukuhara asked instead. "Why is she not with you?"

"We got separated." Sam sighed, looking down. "We got discovered by guards and she stayed behind to fight them off."

Fukuhara turned red and snarled at Sam. "I knew you were no good for her."

Sam bit back an angry retort and they both went silent as the newly awakened guards ran by them to join the soldiers at the table. Suddenly, all the guards and soldiers snapped to attention. The door at the far end of the room slammed open and a man in a dark military uniform stormed in. The man stopped under the ceiling light and Sam could see that the man was Bando. Instead of the kind, pleasant smile he usually wore, Bando was scowling and his eyes were filled with cold rage.

A soldier unfurled a large map on the table and scurried back to his place. Bando looked over the men and then began barking at them in Japanese, gesturing to the fan and to the map angrily. Sam couldn't understand a single word he said but it didn't sound good.

"What is it?" Sam whispered to Funkhara. "What's he talking about?"

"He plans on using the _Akiraka Ni Suru_ to locate and bomb United States military bases." Fukuhara whispered. "Just what I was afraid of."

Fukuhara roughly nudged Sam and pulled up his sleeve. There, on the underside of his forearm was a strange marking; a green hour glass inside of a red triangle surrounded by three black crescents. The marking was familiar but Sam couldn't quite remember why until he realized that it was one of the strange markings on The Book.

"When I was Setsuko's age I was sent here to make sure Japan's history flowed as it should." Fukuhara explained. "Japan would lose the war, but we will rise again and become a technological super power."

"So you're a time keeper." Sam nodded. "So's Setsuko."

"Yes and now Bando plans on restarting the war." Fukuhara snarled and reached for the sword strapped to his side. "I will _not _let that happen! Japan has lost too much to be dragged into another war!"

Sam shushed him urgently and glanced around to make sure no one detected them.

"Setsuko and I are planning on stealing the fan," He explained quickly. "We'll just wait for him to leave, take it, use it to find her, and then-"

Angry yelling cut him off and a guard came rushing in looking disheveled with various cuts and tears on his uniform. He said something to Bando that made him smile maliciously but Fukuhara took a sharp breath.

"They have her." Fukuhara whispered pulling out his sword. "They're captured Setsuko. And if Bando gets his hands on her, it'll be a fate worse than death."

* * *

They had caught her by surprise, or rather _she _had caught _them_ by surprise, but they were too quick with their guns for her to get away. The next thing she knew they had grabbed her and dragged her into a large do-jo like training room. They threw her sword to the side and forced her into a kneeling position with her hands tied behind her. A third guard went into another room while the other two waited silently.

San-Li was rapidly going through and rejecting escape plans when the door opened and a man in a dark military uniform strode in. San-Li took a second look at him and kept her face carefully blank. Bando stopped in front of her and smiled at her in a way that made her blood run cold though she tried to make sure not to show it.

Still smiling Bando unsheathed the sword at his side and gently ran the tip across her shoulders, cutting both the fabric and her skin. He then placed the tip under her chin and tilted her face up to look at him. He smiled pleasantly and chuckled.

"Ah, Setsuko-san," He said. "What a pleasant surprise. Funny meeting you down here."

"Yeah, imagine that." San-Li mumbled.

Bando raised an eyebrow and pressed the sword a little firmer into her neck. "Are you not happy to see me?"

"What do you want with me Bando?" San-Li said impatiently. "Kill me now or let me go. Or better yet, give me the fan and let me go."

"I'm sorry I cannot be helpful to you in that matter." Bando sighed. "You see, I planned on using that the _Akiraka Ni Suru _in order to find American military bases and destroying them and then sending my own personal army to finish them off. I refused to let Japan lose to barbarians."

"I know, I saw the plans." San-Li's mumbled. "I just didn't know you were the ring leader. Not that I cared. I'm just here for the fan."

Bando's eyes narrowed. "Ah, so that _was _you who was snooping that night. I told Fukuhara that I didn't want to vacation on this island, but I was unable to explain why without revealing my true intentions. The good news is that I was able to get some work done while I was here."

"Fascinating." San-Li rolled her eyes. "Though I still don't know why you're taking your time telling me this."

"I suppose you're right, the time for talking is over." He nodded to the guards who quickly left the room.

Bando smiled coldly and slowly moved the tip of the sword down her neck towards the opening of her rope, pushing the material aside ever so slightly. San-Li's heart beat tripled in fear and disgust, but she hid her feelings behind her signature smirk and sardonic laughter.

"Really?" She sneered at him. "I thought you were supposed to be a sophisticated villain, not a stupid, horny one."

Bando's smile dropped completely and he snarled at her angrily. With a yell of outrage he raised his sword to bring it down on her neck.

* * *

Sam carefully climbed up the boxes he pushed against the wall and reached for the glass case holding the fan. Fukuhara was busy fighting off the guards who for some reason didn't have their guns with them, just swords. For a man who had to be well over forty, Fukuhara was a well-trained swordsman and was able to dispatch of them relatively easily. Relatively. Even though he was good, Fukuhara easily became winded and the guards were able to get in a few good slashes with their swords. By the time Sam smashed the glass case open and got the fan out, Fukuhara had knocked out the last of them. Without another word to Sam he burst through the door Bando left through. Sam tucked the fan into his back pocket and followed Fukuhara.

Bando had his back to them and was about to cut down a kneeling San-Li with his sword. Before Sam could call out Fukuhara threw his sword which flew through the air and knocked Bando's sword out of his hand. Bando whirled around in shock and the two glared at each other while Sam ran to San-Li.

"Thank goodness you're okay!" Sam cried out happily untying her hands.

San-Li didn't say anything but just wrapped her arms tightly around his neck once her hands were free. Sam pulled away slightly to kiss her on the mouth and tasted blood. Shocked, he took another look at her and saw that her lip was busted and she was covered with cuts, burns, and bruises.

"You're hurt." Sam whispered laying a hand on her cheek.

"Don't worry about me. Are you okay?" She said eyeing him in concern.

"I'm fine." Sam pulled out the fan and handed her the pocket watch. "I found what we need so we can get out of here."

"YOU WILL NOT TAKE THAT FAN!" Bando screamed at Sam.

"No!" Fukuhara yelled at him. "I will not let you destroy our country with more war!"

San-Li ran over, picked up both her sword and Fukuhara sword, and kicked Bando's sword to the side. She tossed Fukuhara his sword and stood ready to fight next to him.

"Sam, go over to the corner and stay out of the way." She said quietly and he obeyed.

Bando looked back and forth between Fukuhara and San-Li and laughed. "Surely you don't think me stupid enough to fight both of you, do you?"

He then pulled out a whistle and blew two short blasts. Within seconds there was the sound of echoing footsteps and about twenty guards armed with swords entered the room. With another nasty smile, Bando snapped his fingers and the guards charged at them.

Fukuhara and San-Li stood back to back and held their swords at the ready. Both were bloody and bruised but they were able to hold their own against them. Fukuhara fought with heavy blows to the shoulders and chest while San-Li used her speed and small stature to evade them and aimed for their legs. But as the guards began to dwindle, so did their strength as their movements became slower and their breathing more labored.

Sam was so busy watching them that he didn't notice Bando moving slowly towards him until it was too late.

* * *

Fukuhara fell down to one knee panting heavily. San-Li bit back a cry of pain from her wounds and delivered a roundhouse kick to the guard who was about to stab him in the back, knocking him away from Fukuhara. Even now she was careful not to kill any of them even though she was sorely tempted to. They had dispatched of most of the guards, but four more were still slowly moving towards them.

"Are you alright?" She asked kneeling down next to him.

"I- ugh, I am not as young as I used to be." Fukuhara struggled to stand but collapsed unconscious.

San-Li hissed in pain and held her side, looking at the four remaining guards coming towards them. That was when she heard Sam scream.

* * *

Sam ducked as fast as he could but the tip of Bando's sword still cut into Sam's arm, extracting a scream from his lips. He fell and scrambled away from Bando as he moved closer and closer with a snarl on his face.

"Give me the _Akiraka Ni Suru_ or your death will be slow." Bando said menacingly.

"N-n-no way!" Sam yelled angrily even as his heart quaked in fear. "Y-you're insane!"

Bando's eyes narrow and he lifted his sword. "Then you will perish."

Sam closed his eyes and waited for the final blow to come down, but instead felt a wash of cold air and heard a strangled grunt of pain. He opened his eyes and gasped in horror. San-Li kneeling between him and Bando, her sword thrust deep into Bando's stomach. Bando stared down at them, his eyes and mouth wide in terror and pain. San-Li gave another thrust of her sword, propelling him away from them, blood gushed out of the wound in his stomach and out of his mouth. Warm droplets of blood splattered across Sam's face and hands and across San-Li's face as well. The remaining guards gave a cry of fear and fled the room.

Holding his bleeding wound, Bando staggered backwards away from them and fell to his knees. San-Li stood up and slowly walked towards him. Her expression was cold, dark, and empty as she stared down at Bando, lifted her sword, and plunged it down to the hilt between his neck and shoulder. She yanked the sword back out and a torrent of blood came spraying out of his neck and mouth, drenching San-Li completely. Even then her expression remained cold and her eyes dark.

Sam was unable to breath and his heart seemed to stop as San-Li turned towards him. He stared at her in sheer terror and she came close and kneelt down in front of him. She smiled softly at him and some fondness came into her on exposed eye.

"Are you okay?" She asked reaching a hand out towards him.

The gesture was kind but he flinched back regardless. San-Li had just saved his life but all he could see was the blood she was covered in, and that cold, blank expression she had only moments earlier.

"What are you?" He whispered in terror.

San-Li's eyes widened in shock and hurt, but right now the only thing Sam could feel was fear. Tears welled up in San-Li's eyes and without a word she opened the pocket watch and warped them home.

**A/N- I haven't written anything like this before so please review and tell me what you think about pacing, the action and the conent please**


	12. Epilouge

One week passed. Then two. Then another week went by and Sam still couldn't bring himself to face San-Li. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't shake the image of San-Li being drenched in Bando's blood with a cold, dark look in her eyes while his lifeless body lay in front of them. He tried to remind himself over and over again that she had done it to save his life, but his blood still ran cold every time he remembered it.

So he made up any excuse to avoid hanging out with Joe or Fred in order to avoid her and practically locked himself in his room. He didn't even answer his phone. San-Li must have realized what he was doing because she made no effort to contact him either.

But despite all of the nightmares he suffered and the churning in his stomach whenever he remembered that night, Sam found that he missed her terribly. She was all he could think about no matter how much he tried burying himself in his books or his blue prints.

He missed her smirk, her laugh... even her violent temper. But what he missed most was her wild, crazy passion. The passion that sometimes burned so brightly and so fiercely that it sometimes singed him if he got too close. Or it consumed him completely if he let it.

So Sam made up his mind to finally go see her. He left his apartment around eight-thirty and stopped at the local drug store to pick up a unique brand of candy that San-Li had an obsession for. As if candy could make up for him ignoring her. Especially after she saved his life. He hesitated at her door and realized that he didn't even call or text her to say that he was coming over. For all he knew she could be out, maybe with Fina.

Or out on a date with another guy.

Sam shook the thought out of mind and knocked on the door. There was no answer for a while and he was just about to give up and go home when he heard footsteps inside and the door opened. San-Li was wearing sweatpants and an over sized sweatshirt that hung off her small frame. She probably just got out of the shower because her hair was damp and tied into two messy knots at the nape of her neck.

She looked at him blankly, without even the smallest trace of a smile or happiness, but at least she didn't slam the door in his face. Or stab him. Or cut his throat. But she didn't hug him either. She just looked at him with no expression on her face.

"What?" She asked almost tonelessly.

"Um," Sam licked his dry lips and cleared his throat. "Hi. How have you been?"

San-Li raised an eyebrow and didn't answer. They stood there awkwardly in silence and Sam reached into the bag for the candy. He held it out to her, but she made no move to take it from him.

"I bought them for you." He tried to smile at her. "Because I know how much you love them."

San-Li sighed and closed her eyes. "Why are you here? It's over between us, I already know that."

"But I don't want it to be over between us." Sam moved closer to her. "I'm sorry that ignored you like I did. I just... freaked out that's all. But I'm okay now."

"Are you serious?" San-Li laughed but it was cold and humorless. "You do realize that that wasn't the first time I killed someone right?"

Sam's stomach flip flopped and his mouth went dry. He suspected that may have true but he had mentally blocked it out and attributed it to her distant past. But he knew that he couldn't ignore the truth any longer.

Suddenly, a dark glint flashed in San-Li's eyes. She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him inside, slamming the door shut. She roughly slammed him against the wall and pinned him there with her forearm.

"Ow! Hey, San-Li that hurt!"

"Shut the hell up!" She hissed sharply and sneered at him. "You have no idea what kind of person you're dealing with do you?"

Sam's eyes widened in terror. "San-Li, what are you-"

"I said shut up!" She shrieked and slammed him against the wall again.

She then pulled out a dagger and laid it against his cheek. He took one look at her face and saw that this wasn't her usual dark, playfulness. The edge of the blade bit into his cheek and something warm and wet dripped down his face. San-Li smiled mirthlessly and leaned closer to him.

"You think you have me all figured out don't you, Samuel?" She said in a low voice. "You think I'm some poor orphan girl trying to get revenge right? Some poor unfortunate girl who was forced into a life of crime? Well, I'm not."

The pressure from the dagger lessened, but Sam was far from relieved. His heart was thundering in his chest and a cold sweat had broken out all over his body. They both looked at the dagger and watched as a small amount of Sam's blood run down the blade and onto the hilt. San-Li backed away from him and his knees nearly gave out.

San-Li stared at him with her expression now blank again. "You see, Sam? You don't know me. You have no idea when I could snap. You have know idea when I could get pissed off enough to kill you or someone else and I won't be sorry."

Sam stared at her and felt anger well up inside him. The bond marking on his arm throbbed and he suddenly realized what she was trying to do. He didn't quite know how, but he just knew.

"Are you serious!?" He shrieked jumping up. "Are you really trying to push me away San-Li? After everything that happened between us!?"

"Of course I am!" San-Li whirled on him angrily. "I'm _dangerous _Sam! I'm unstable! Not misunderstood, not acting out for attention. Psy-cho-tic!"

"No you aren't!" Sam shook his head adamantly. "Well...maybe, but that isn't everything about you. You're smart, you're loyal, and you're strong. That's why I'm so in love with you!"

San-Li's face crumpled and her voice dropped to a whisper. "When you looked at me all I saw was fear. And then you stopped talking to me. That's when I realized how twisted I am. I didn't hesitate killing Bando. I never hesitate when I kill. It's automatic now."

"It scared me." Sam admitted, all the anger draining out of him. "I've never seen anyone die before. And you looked so cold about it. I guess that's when it really hit me that you've done it before."

"And I might have to do it again." She said quietly.

Sam nodded. "I know."

They stood in silence, close enough to touch each other but they kept their arms at their sides. San-Li sighed and moved away first. "Let me get something for your face."

Sam blinked and gingerly touched his cheek. There was a small cut that was still bleeding a little. He glanced at the blood on his finger tip and laughed a little. San-Li walked back over to him with some rubbing alcohol, cotton swabs, and some bandages.

"What are you laughing about?" She mumbled.

Sam smiled at her softly. "I'm pretty sure a few years ago I wouldn't be so forgiving of someone who holds a knife to my face."

"It wasn't a knife, it was a 12th century cross-hilt dagger," San-Li mumbled applying alcohol to the cut. "Besides, I had to find some way to get through to you."

"Mission accomplished." He murmured, gently brushing his fingers against her cheek.

San-Li looked up at him through her eye lashes and placed several bandages on his cut. He stared back down at her and felt something indescribable well up inside him. San-Li finished bandaging his wound but didn't move away from him just yet.

"What now?" She whispered in a low voice.

The corners of Sam's mouth lifted in a small smile.

* * *

_It might not be the right time  
I might not be the right one  
But there's something about us, I want to say  
'Cause there's something between us anyway_

_I might not be the right one  
It might not be the right time  
But there's something about us I've got to do  
Some kind of secret I will share with you_

_I need you more than anything in my life  
I want you more than anything in my life  
I'll miss you more than anyone in my life  
I love you more than anyone in my life_

The smooth, rhythmic electronic song was playing softly from his i-pod in the background on repeat. Moonlight shone through the window and bathed the bedroom in its light, softened only a little by the curtains. His phone started vibrating persistently so Sam reached out to silence it. He sent out a quick text before turning it off and placing it back on the night stand next to his glasses. He settled back into the bed and pulled the blanket over his chest.

"Who was that?" San-Li whispered next to him.

"My mom. I told her that I was staying at a friend's house tonight" He mumbled and rolled onto his side to look at her. "Is that okay?"

San-Li smiled and moved closer to him. "I can't complain."

Sam blushed and grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. Her hair was just the way he liked it, loose and wild and falling over her shoulders messily. Both eyes were exposed and he could see a mixture of happiness, love, and a touch of sleepiness in them. He gently traced up her arm with his fingertips, being careful to go around the still raw bullet burns. Eventually they would scar and fade and look like the rest of them. She shivered under his touch which made him smile even more.

"I love you." He whispered.

"I love you too." She grinned. "And... I want to give you something."

She got up from the bed and instantly became blurry. Sam reached over to grab his glasses and saw her at the foot of her bed, slipping on his shirt which barely reached her thighs. She smirked at him when she saw him watching at her.

"Did you put on your glasses just so you could watch me dress?" She chuckled.

"Maybe?" Sam smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck.

San-Li laughed and disappeared inside her closet. She came back out carrying a locked, wooden box and literally jumped onto the bed next to him. Smiling seductively she leaned across him, making sure to press herself against him, and reached into a drawer in the night suppressed a moan and gently ran his hand up and down her back. She took her time rifling through the drawer, humming a tune under her breath.

Finally, San-Li pulled out a small key on a chain and sat up next to him. She unlocked the wooden box and pulled out a golden pocket watch. This watch was different than the one she used for warping though. This watch looked much older, but barely had a scratch on it and had a beautiful design on it. She handed it to Sam who took it gently. He tried to open the watch but found that it was stuck.

"Yeah, the latch is broken." San-Li sighed.

"It's beautiful." He said breathlessly.

"It was my grandfather's." San-Li said smiling shyly. "It's been in my family for centuries. My grandmother gave it to my grandfather, who gave it to my mother, who gave it to my father. I... recovered it after the...um...you know."

"And you're giving it to me?" Sam asked wide eyed. "I- I don't know what to say. Um, thank you."

"I gave it to you too soon, didn't I?" San-Li grimaced and blushed. "Sorry. I'm not much for patience and since I already know that I want you to have it, I figured now was as good a time as any to give it to you."

"Thank you." Sam said pulling her into a loving embrace. "I love you so much."

"You said that already." San-Li laughed. "And I love you too."

**A/N- I had this written for a while so I decided to go ahead and post it. Tell me what you think and review please :)**


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